FLASH® announces scholarship recipients

New $1,500 scholarships provide funding for graduate students performing research in disaster mitigation

Scholarship recipients will be recognized at the 2012 FLASH Annual Conference.

The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)® announced the recipients of five new scholarships sponsored by FLASH and four of its partners: RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.; WeatherPredict Consulting Inc., an affiliate of RenaissanceRe; Simpson Strong-Tie® and State Farm®. Each of the scholarships has a specific focus on areas important to the weather safety mitigation movement. These areas are all highlighted in popular INNOVENTIONS experience StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes®. StormStruck is an interactive severe weather experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot® at the Walt Disney World® Resort

Scholarship recipients for the 2012-2013 academic year include:

Corey Cattano, Clemson University, was chosen as the recipient of the RenaissanceRe® Risk Management Scholarship. With his scholarship, Cattano is focused on prioritizing disaster mitigation techniques for residential homes through identifying the most vulnerable elements of a home. Cattano, from Providence, NJ, expects to graduate from Clemson in 2013 with a PhD in Civil Engineering.

Yuepeng Cui, Texas Tech University was chosen as the recipient of the WeatherPredict Consulting Inc. Meteorology Scholarship. With her scholarship, Cui will develop a Hurricane Impact Index (HI2) to serve as a key basis and catalyst for a whole family of innovative enterprise risk management tools. Cui, from Lubbock, TX, expects to graduate from Texas Tech in 2015 with a PhD in Wind Science and Engineering.

Jonathan Aycock, North Carolina State University, was chosen as the recipient of the Simpson Strong-Tie® Structural Engineering & Construction. With his scholarship, Aycock will measure how building products, specifically Oriented Strand Board (OSB), perform in real world flood conditions over time. Aycock, from Goldsboro, NC, will graduate from North Carolina State in 2013 with a Master’s degree in Forest Biomaterials.

Jeffery Plumblee, Clemson University, was chosen as the recipient of the State Farm® Financial Services Scholarship. With his scholarship, Plumblee will research the relationship between resilience and sustainability using life-cycle assessment processes. Plumblee, from Greenville, SC, plans to graduate from Clemson in 2013 with a PhD in Civil Engineering.

Earl “Tripp” Shealy, Clemson University, was chosen as the recipient of the FLASH Social Science Scholarship. With his scholarship, Shealy will perform research on post-secondary building code education and existing curriculum. Shealy, from Greenville, SC, plans to graduate from Clemson in 2013 with a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering.

“We are extremely pleased to announce this impressive group of deserving scholarship recipients,” said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, President and CEO of FLASH. “With these scholarships, FLASH and its partners are taking the study of mitigation to higher education for the first time ever. We’re creating an educational link between traditional disciplines that support mitigation – like meteorology, insurance, construction and engineering -- as a field of study and practice.”

Each scholarship recipient will be recognized at the 2012 FLASH Annual Conference scheduled for Nov. 1-2, 2012 in Lake Buena Vista, FL, where the recipients will present their research findings.

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Susan Schneider has more than 25 years of public relations experience.

The Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA) is committed to preserving and promoting the masonry industry by providing continuing education, advocating fair codes and standards, fostering a safe work environment, recruiting future manpower, and marketing the benefits of masonry materials.